In this modern era of mathematical modeling, applications have become increasingly complicated. As the complexity grows, it becomes more and more difficult to draw meaningful conclusions about the behavior of theoretical models and their relations to reality. Alongside methods that emphasize quantitative properties and the testing of scientific details, there is a need for approaches that are more qualitative. These techniques attempt to cover whole families of models in one bold stroke, in a manner that allows robust conclusions to be drawn about them. Loop analysis and time averaging provide a means of interpreting the properties of systems from the network of interactions within the system. The authors' methodology concentrates on graphical representation to guide experimental design, to identify sources of external variability from the statistical pattern of variables, and to make management decisions. Although most of the examples are drawn from ecology, the methods are relevant to all of the pure and applied sciences. This relevance is enhanced by case studies from such diverse areas as physiology, resource management, the behavioral sciences, and social epidemiology. The book will be useful to a broad readership from the biological and social sciences as well as the physical sciences and technology. It will interest undergraduate and graduate students along with researchers active in these disciplines. Here the reader will find a strong rationale for maintaining a holistic approach, revealing what insights and advantages are retained by the broader perspective and, more explicitly, by the synergistic effects that cannot be discerned by reducing systems to their smallest parts.

The International Conference on Complex Systems provides a unique opportunity for scientists to rise above the disciplinary boundaries and explore unity in complex systems. This volume contains the proceedings of the Second International Conference on Complex Systems. The sessions ranged from the opening talk by Nobel laureate Philip Anderson on emergence and the relevance of complex systems to physics to the final panel that included many of the great management gurus of this generation. The plenary session topics for the second conference were emergence, description and modeling, self-organization, networks, time series, agents in action, and complexity and management. Talks in these sessions often focused on contributions in specific disciplines, but each session contained a diverse set of disciplines to show the strategies and concepts that can be applied generally to complex systems. Overall, the conference presentations dealt with issues of significant public interest, including individual psychology, dynamics of social and economic change, the human genome, and ecology.The New England Complex Systems Institute is an independent educational and research institution dedicated to advancing the study of complex systems, including new concepts and methodologies that are affecting all fields of science and engineering, and are being applied to technology, business, and even social policy. NECSI organizes conferences, workshops, short courses, and other activities from which books will be produced for the NECSI Series on Complexity. The books will range from conference proceedings and graduate textbooks to general-audience trade books, and will address fundamental concepts, new frontiers, and innovative applications of complex systems.